In order to reduce the quantity of debris from the spacecraft’s trunk portion that touches down, NASA and SpaceX are investigating ways to modify the Dragon spacecraft’s reentry procedure.
Debris from Dragon spacecraft trunk parts, which are removed from the capsule prior to the capsule performing a deorbit burn, has been discovered on land on multiple occasions. These consist of the Ax-3 Crew Dragon, which crashed in Saskatchewan in February; the Crew-7 trunk, pieces of which were discovered in North Carolina in May; and wreckage from the Crew-1 Crew Dragon trunk, which was discovered in Australia in 2022.
A SpaceX representative minimized the occurrence as a single incident in August 2022, not long after the Crew-1 wreckage was discovered in Australia. At a NASA briefing, SpaceX’s senior director of human spaceflight projects, Benji Reed, stated, “This was all within the expected analyzed space of what can happen.” “Nonetheless, just like we do for launches and any return, we look very closely at the data, we learn everything that we can and we always look for ways we can improve things.”
Now that more debris has been seen, NASA and SpaceX agree that changes are required. According to recent agency statements, preliminary studies predicted that the trunk would burn completely upon return. According to NASA, “NASA and SpaceX will continue exploring additional solutions as we learn from the discovered debris,”
Following a Starliner briefing prior to the mission’s flight on June 6, NASA commercial crew program manager Steve Stich stated in an interview, “We did analysis back before Demo-2 and clearly the models don’t deal with the trunk very well,” According to him, the trunk’s composite components are probably to blame. “It’s almost like a thermal protection system.”
As a solution, he said NASA and SpaceX are considering altering the deorbiting protocols. As of right now, the orbit burn of the capsule occurs before the trunk is released. Accordingly, the trunk may stay in orbit for several months before reentering the atmosphere without permission.
Rather than that, Stich stated that engineers are looking on releasing the trunk after the deorbit burn. This would allow for greater control over the trunk’s reentry point, guaranteeing that any debris that makes it through will land in an area free of people.
He stated, “We’re in the process of doing that work right now,” “I would love to have something in place next year if we can, but we’ve got to do all the right analysis. We’ve got make sure that it’s safe for the crew.”.
The difficulties with the alternate strategy are finding the optimum way to separate the trunk after the fire and using more propellant to complete the deorbit burn with the trunk still attached. According to Stich, engineers are considering a few strategies that would cause the trunk to detach from the capsule upon reentry, allowing any debris to fall into the ocean.
Not only have the Dragon trunks raised concerns about the possibility of falling debris, but a portion of the ISS battery rack made an uncontrolled reentry on March 8 has also raised concerns. A roughly three-quarters-kilogram chunk of that rack made it through reentry and struck a Naples, Florida, home. There were no injuries when the rubble crashed through the house’s roof.
The legal company Cranfill Sumner LLP declared on June 21st that it has submitted a claim to NASA for an approximate amount of $80,000 in damages resulting from the debris. The petition, which several media outlets mistakenly characterized as a lawsuit, is actually a claim made under the Federal Torts Claim Act, and NASA has six months to respond to the claim.
The family’s attorney, Mica Nguyen Worthy, filed the claim on their behalf. He pointed out that although the United States would have been “absolutely liable” for damages had the debris struck another nation, this liability does not apply in this case because the damage occurred within the country.
The statement read, “Here, the U.S. government, through NASA, has an opportunity to set the standard or ‘set a precedent’ as to what responsible, safe, and sustainable space operations ought to look like,” In her words, paying the claim “would send a strong signal to both other governments and private industries that such victims should be compensated regardless of fault.”
Some perceive a chance among the falling pieces. The Glamping Collective, an upscale camping destination, posted images of the wreckage of the Crew-7 trunk on their website. On its website, it said, “We invite you to come experience this yourself!” and mentioned that the wreckage will be visible at the beginning of a hiking trail.
